Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science  Department of Mechanical Engineering  6.050J / 2.110J     Information and Entropy     Spring 2006

Unit 12: Temperature

Schedule

Lecture Handouts

Students who for any reason did not receive these items can pick up a copy in Room 38-344. Most of this material is also available on the 6.050J/2.110J Web site http://mtlsites.mit.edu/Courses/6.050.

• Unit 12 Resources (this page)
• Problem Set 12
• 6.050J / 2.110J Notes
  • Temperature

Reading Assignment

• 6.050J / 2.110J notes, Temperature

Resources

Technical

Seminal papers on the Principle of Maximum Entropy by Edwin T. Jaynes (July 5, 1922 - April 30, 1998):

• Jaynes, E. T., "Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics," Physical Review, vol. 106, no. 4, pp. 620-630; May 15, 1957. PDF (2.2 MB), PS (2.6 MB). This paper started the use of the Principle of Maximum Entropy in physics
• Jaynes, E. T., "Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics. II," Physical Review, vol. 108, no. 2, pp. 171-190; October 15, 1957. PDF (2.2 MB), PS (2.6 MB). Continuation of the previous reference

Historical

• Sadi Carnot biography
• J. Willard Gibbs biography
• Biography of Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist, 1844-1906, who was a pioneer in thermodynamics and entropy, is Carlo Cercignani, "Ludwig Boltzmann, The Man Who Trusted Atoms," Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK; 1998
• On Boltzmann's tombstone (closeup) is the formula for entropy "S = k log W"
• Ludwig Boltzmann biography
• Another Ludwig Boltzmann biography
• History of the twisted and convoluted development of the difficult concept of entropy, C. Truesdell, "The Tragicomical History of Thermodynamics, 1822 - 1854," Springer-Verlag, Berlin; 1980. Professor Truesdell retired from the faculty at Johns Hopkins University in 1989 and died January 14, 2000 at the age of 80
• Edwin T. Jaynes biography, photograph, bibliography

Books

There are many textbooks on thermodynamics and energy conversion.

• R. Silbey and R. Alberty, "Physical Chemistry," Wiley; 2001. These authors are from MIT. Alberty was formerly Dean of Science, and Silbey is now (2006) Dean of Science. It's amazing that anyone can be a Dean and still keep up with science
• Typical excellent book in a traditional style, Mark W. Zemansky, "Heat and Thermodynamics," McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, NY; Third Edition, 1951, or earlier editions starting in 1937. This book does not mention information, and starts with assumed knowledge about temperature, pressure, and volume. Suitable for advanced undergraduates
• Introductory book, used for sophomores, covering classical thermodynamics (no information), H. C. Van Ness, "Understanding Thermodynamics," Dover Publications, New York, NY; 1969. Succinct and carefully crafted.
• Book covering both equilibrium and irreversible thermodynamics, Herbert B. Callen, "Thermodynamics," John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York NY; 1962. Suitable for graduate studies
• Careful treatment of classical thermodynamics (no mention of information) with emphasis on the mathematical formalism, C. Truesdell, "Rational Thermodynamics," McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, NY; 1969. Suitable for graduate courses, for those with some prior exposure to thermodynamics
• An early textbook to use the Principle of Maximum Entropy as an approach to thermodynamics is M. Tribus, "Thermostatics and Thermodynamics," D. Van Nostrand Co, Inc., Princeton, NJ; 1961. The philosophy of assuming maximum uncertainty is discussed in Chapter 3
• Textbook developed at MIT in energy conversion (no thermodynamics), David C. White and Herbert H. Woodson, "Electromechanical Energy Conversion," John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, NY; 1959. Professor White is retired and, as of 2006, living in Florida. Professor Woodson served as Dean of Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, until his recent retirement

Help Wanted

6.050J/2.110J students: be the first to suggest a resource, for example a useful Web site or a good book or article, to add to the list above. If your suggestion is accepted by the 6.050J/2.110J staff, you will get a $5 ice-cream gift certificate. Send your suggestion by e-mail during Spring 2006 to 6.050-staff (at) mit.edu.